Spoiler Alert: 'Ant-Man and the Wasp' Post-Credits and the Future of Kang in the MCU

Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania (2023)

Directed by Peyton Reed

Written by Jeff Loveness

Starring Jonathan Majors, Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, Kathryn Newton

Release Date February 17th, 2023

Published February 17th, 2023

This article carries with it spoilers for Ant-Man and The Wasp Quantumania, a decidedly mixed but not bad entry in the Marvel Canon. If you'd like to avoid spoilers, I suggest seeing the movie before coming back and reading this article. We are going to dig into the ending, specifically the mid and post credits sequences which set the table for the the latest reboot of the Marvel Cinematic Universe known as Phase 5. Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania is the kickoff for this new era of Marvel movies and you will want to see it before you read this thorough spoiler post.

For those sticking around, welcome, let's talk about what should have been called Kang the Conqueror Quantumania because this was a Jonathan Majors movie far more than it was starring anyone else. Kang the Conqueror or rather, his many multiversal variants, looms large over every aspect of Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania. He's the new Thanos and the movie does well to put over the idea of just how volatile and dangerous Kang truly is. Jonathan Majors does much of the heavy dramatic lifting in the movie and, for the most part, he's successful in establishing the next big bad of the Marvel Universe.

Context: Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania comes to a close with Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) seemingly sacrificing themselves to a life trapped in the Quantum Realm just so they can prevent Kang the Conqueror from escaping his Quantum Realm exile. Having shrank Kang even smaller than even they've gone, hurtling him into a seeming oblivion, Scott and Hope are then immediately rescued by Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton), in an all too rushed and pat conclusion to what could have been a slightly more dramatic ending.

Back home, Scott resumes his mundane, day to day existence as a pseudo-celebrity, walking down the streets of San Francisco smiling and waving like he was about to run for Mayor. This happy-go-lucky stroll is interrupted by a thought that nags at the back of Scott's mind. It's something that Kang said before he was sent into oblivion, that only he, Kang The Conqueror, could stop what is coming. Kang being a man who could control time would definitely know if something big, perhaps world-altering were coming down the pike. Did Scott just create this world-altering event by eliminating the one man who might be able to prevent it?

And cut to credits. It's not a bad ending, but there are some things that could have improved it. That said, the intriguing question of what's next in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is established with this 'victory, but at what cost' ending. Kang the Conqueror may have been vanquished but Kang is not done trying to conquer the multiverse. For you see, dear reader, because of the Multiverse, there are millions of Kangs. Three of them seem to have risen to the top of the Kang Army but there are an unending number of variations and they've all just been given the greenlight to unleash multiversal chaos.

In our Mid-Credits scene we find three variations of Kang who are discussing the seeming demise of Kang The Conqueror, a long time thorn in their sides. With Kang the Conqueror out of the way, the remaining Multiverse versions of Kang are happy to be able to move forward with their own multiverse conquering plans but are feeling a little more cautious now that they know they are potentially vulnerable against these so-called Avengers. The scene ends with millions of Kangs across the Multiverse all together and preparing to unleash hell on all universes.

And then, in our post-credits scene, we see Kang again, in yet another potentially dangerous variation. Here, Kang is a magician on stage, dazzling the crowd with his mastery over time and space. In the audience are Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Mobius (Owen Wilson). Loki faced off with one of Kang's variants in the Loki television series and understands the danger of seeing variations of Kang in the wild, in this case, a 1920s theater. Mobius is unimpressed but the flashes of fear on Loki's face tell a different story, further expanding the mythos of just how dangerous Kang truly is.

And that's how Ant-Man and The Wasp Quantumania end, with Kang set to attack every multiverse and Loki set to stand opposite Kang once again in hopes of protecting these many, many universes, a plot likely to play out over the course of Season 2 of Loki which will debut in April on Disney Plus. Ah, but that's not all for Kang. According to Wikipedia, Kang will return in both Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers Secret War. Jonathan Majors has signed on for both of those films though he was curiously left out of Disney's announcement regarding Loki Season 2. Nevertheless, Loki's appearance in Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania is more than enough assurance that Kang will be part of the show.

Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has its new Thanos in Kang The Conqueror and much of the future of the MCU rides on whether or not you buy into Kang the Conqueror as the kind of all consuming evil villain that was Thanos. And since this is a multiverse, just about anything can happen from the return of dead characters, moving from one multiverse to another, to dead villains being resurrected in similar fashion. You can either find this idea exciting or you can be concerned that Marvel is biting off far too big a story. Considering how bad Doctor Strange and The Multiverse of Madness was, your worry and skepticism is perfectly valid. That said, Jonathan Majors is one hell of a convincing bad guy. With him in place as the big bad, there may yet be hope for the future of the MCU.

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